
American Legends: The Life of Burt Lancaster
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $6.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Charles McKibben
About this listen
In the 1940s, there were few actors who personified the all-American look like Burt Lancaster, who set Hollywood ablaze quickly with performances in movies like The Killers, The Flame and the Arrow, and The Crimson Pirate. Indeed, his status as a heartthrob was cemented by 1953's From Here to Eternity, when he and Deborah Kerr shot a romantic scene on a Hawaiian beach that ensured the film's inclusion in the American Film Institute's Top 100 Romantic Films of the 20th century.
As it turned out, however, that was just the first phase in a critically acclaimed career that would span over 40 years. As Lancaster grew older, he wisely veered away from the early kinds of roles he had as a leading man and branched out into more distinguished roles that were also more challenging, earning him brand new levels of acclaim. In time, he would go on to be nominated for four Academy Awards for Best Actor, including a win for Elmer Gantry (1960) when he was in his late 40s. By the time he was finished, the American Film Institute named him 19th on its list of the 50 best actors of the 20th century.
©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River EditorsListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece
- A Novel
- By: Tom Hanks
- Narrated by: Tom Hanks, Peter Gerety, Natalie Morales, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the legendary actor and best-selling author: a novel about the making of a star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film...and the humble comic books that inspired it. Funny, touching, and wonderfully thought-provoking, while also capturing the changes in America and American culture since World War II.
-
-
I could never stay married to an actor,
- By PattyQB on 05-11-23
By: Tom Hanks
-
Robin
- By: Dave Itzkoff
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in Mork & Mindy and his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative and beloved entertainer. He often came across as a man possessed, holding forth on culture and politics while mixing in personal revelations - all with mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity as he inhabited and shed one character after another with lightning speed. But as Dave Itzkoff shows in this revelatory biography, Williams’ comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt.
-
-
Disappointing but worth a read
- By Joe Moore on 05-18-18
By: Dave Itzkoff
-
American Titan
- Searching for John Wayne
- By: Marc Eliot
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As he did in his bestselling biographies of Jimmy Stewart and Clint Eastwood, acclaimed Hollywood biographer Marc Eliot digs deep beneath the myth in this revealing look at the most legendary Western film hero of all time; the man with the distinctive voice, walk, and demeanor who was an inspiration to many and a symbol of American masculinity, power, and patriotism.
-
-
Perspective of Duke
- By Mr W. on 07-11-18
By: Marc Eliot
-
Michael Landon
- The Career and Artistry of a Television Genius
- By: David R. Greenland
- Narrated by: Nat Segaloff
- Length: 4 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael Landon was an actor, writer, director, and producer. For over three decades, Michael Landon's creative gifts touched millions of viewers around the world on Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven, and in several other productions. This is the first detailed examination of his work both in front of and behind the camera, including information about every Landon script.
-
-
Michael Landon? = GREAT - Narrator? = Not So Much!
- By Jamie M. on 11-08-20
-
American Rebel
- The Life of Clint Eastwood
- By: Marc Eliot
- Narrated by: Marc Eliot
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times best-selling author Marc Eliot comes the definitive biography of one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful actors, producers, and directors in the history of American motion pictures. Marc Eliot examines the ever-exciting, often tumultuous arc of Eastwood's life and career, from his days as a disaffected college dropout, to his rise to fame as the archetypal loner, to his acceptance into the pantheon of the Academy as a multiple Oscar Award winner.
-
-
I learned the hard way.
- By Ty Pritchard on 07-23-10
By: Marc Eliot
-
Age of Cage
- Four Decades of Hollywood Through One Singular Career
- By: Keith Phipps
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nicolas Cage is many things, but love him, or laugh at him, there's no denying two things: You've seen one of his many films, and you certainly know his name. But who is he, really, and why has his career endured for over 40 years, with more than a hundred films, and birthed a million memes? Age of Cage is a smart, beguiling book about the films of Nicolas Cage and the actor himself, as well as a sharp-eyed examination of the changes that have taken place in Hollywood over the course of his career.
-
-
Excellent filmography of a successful career
- By Pamela Plimpton on 04-04-22
By: Keith Phipps
-
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece
- A Novel
- By: Tom Hanks
- Narrated by: Tom Hanks, Peter Gerety, Natalie Morales, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the legendary actor and best-selling author: a novel about the making of a star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film...and the humble comic books that inspired it. Funny, touching, and wonderfully thought-provoking, while also capturing the changes in America and American culture since World War II.
-
-
I could never stay married to an actor,
- By PattyQB on 05-11-23
By: Tom Hanks
-
Robin
- By: Dave Itzkoff
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in Mork & Mindy and his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative and beloved entertainer. He often came across as a man possessed, holding forth on culture and politics while mixing in personal revelations - all with mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity as he inhabited and shed one character after another with lightning speed. But as Dave Itzkoff shows in this revelatory biography, Williams’ comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt.
-
-
Disappointing but worth a read
- By Joe Moore on 05-18-18
By: Dave Itzkoff
-
American Titan
- Searching for John Wayne
- By: Marc Eliot
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As he did in his bestselling biographies of Jimmy Stewart and Clint Eastwood, acclaimed Hollywood biographer Marc Eliot digs deep beneath the myth in this revealing look at the most legendary Western film hero of all time; the man with the distinctive voice, walk, and demeanor who was an inspiration to many and a symbol of American masculinity, power, and patriotism.
-
-
Perspective of Duke
- By Mr W. on 07-11-18
By: Marc Eliot
-
Michael Landon
- The Career and Artistry of a Television Genius
- By: David R. Greenland
- Narrated by: Nat Segaloff
- Length: 4 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael Landon was an actor, writer, director, and producer. For over three decades, Michael Landon's creative gifts touched millions of viewers around the world on Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven, and in several other productions. This is the first detailed examination of his work both in front of and behind the camera, including information about every Landon script.
-
-
Michael Landon? = GREAT - Narrator? = Not So Much!
- By Jamie M. on 11-08-20
-
American Rebel
- The Life of Clint Eastwood
- By: Marc Eliot
- Narrated by: Marc Eliot
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times best-selling author Marc Eliot comes the definitive biography of one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful actors, producers, and directors in the history of American motion pictures. Marc Eliot examines the ever-exciting, often tumultuous arc of Eastwood's life and career, from his days as a disaffected college dropout, to his rise to fame as the archetypal loner, to his acceptance into the pantheon of the Academy as a multiple Oscar Award winner.
-
-
I learned the hard way.
- By Ty Pritchard on 07-23-10
By: Marc Eliot
-
Age of Cage
- Four Decades of Hollywood Through One Singular Career
- By: Keith Phipps
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nicolas Cage is many things, but love him, or laugh at him, there's no denying two things: You've seen one of his many films, and you certainly know his name. But who is he, really, and why has his career endured for over 40 years, with more than a hundred films, and birthed a million memes? Age of Cage is a smart, beguiling book about the films of Nicolas Cage and the actor himself, as well as a sharp-eyed examination of the changes that have taken place in Hollywood over the course of his career.
-
-
Excellent filmography of a successful career
- By Pamela Plimpton on 04-04-22
By: Keith Phipps
-
Somebody
- The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando
- By: Stefan Kanfer
- Narrated by: Armando Durán
- Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brando is perpetually fascinating, both for the power of the characters he portrayed and for his tumultuous personal life. Best-selling biographer Stefan Kanfer seamlessly intertwines the man and the work to give us the fullest and most illuminating appraisal yet. Kanfer takes us from Brando's troubled childhood to his arrival in New York in the 1940s, where he studied with the legendary Stella Adler and became, at age 23, the star of Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire.
-
-
so boring, made me not like brando
- By A. Garofalo on 02-20-14
By: Stefan Kanfer
-
Steve McQueen
- A Biography
- By: Marc Eliot
- Narrated by: Marc Eliot
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and '70s with now-classics such as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Bullit, Steve McQueen is renowned as one of the most exciting actors ever to come out of Hollywood. Now, in Steve McQueen: A Biography, best-selling author Marc Eliot gives unique insight into McQueen's life, from his films to his three marriages, many affairs, and struggles with addictions.
-
-
Snooze
- By Cill on 10-27-11
By: Marc Eliot
-
High Noon
- The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic
- By: Glenn Frankel
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's one of the most revered movies of Hollywood's golden era. Starring screen legend Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in her first significant film role, High Noon was shot on a lean budget over just 32 days but achieved instant box-office and critical success. It won four Academy Awards in 1953, including a best actor win for Cooper. And it became a cultural touchstone, often cited by politicians as a favourite film, celebrating moral fortitude.
-
-
The Blacklist
- By Jean on 03-16-17
By: Glenn Frankel
-
TV (the Book)
- Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time
- By: Alan Sepinwall, Matt Zoller Seitz
- Narrated by: Alan Sepinwall, Matt Zoller Seitz
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What's the greatest TV show ever? That debate reaches an epic conclusion in TV (the Book). Sepinwall and Seitz have identified and ranked the 100 greatest scripted shows in American TV history. Using a complex, obsessively all-encompassing scoring system, they've created a pantheon of top TV shows, each accompanied by essays delving into what made these shows great.
-
-
Boring!
- By digger on 10-23-17
By: Alan Sepinwall, and others
-
All That Heaven Allows
- A Biography of Rock Hudson
- By: Mark Griffin
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive biography of the deeply complex and widely misunderstood matinee idol of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Devastatingly handsome, broad-shouldered, and clean-cut, Rock Hudson was the ultimate movie star. The embodiment of romantic masculinity in American film throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, Hudson reigned supreme as the king of Hollywood. But in a more conservative era, Hudson’s wholesome, straight-arrow screen image was at odds with his closeted homosexuality.
-
-
Almost all of book is filtered by his sexuality.
- By James M. Patton on 03-30-19
By: Mark Griffin
-
The Revolution Was Televised
- The Cops, Crooks, Slingers, and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever
- By: Alan Sepinwall
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Sopranos. Oz. The Wire. Deadwood. The Shield. Lost. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 24. Battlestar Galactica. Friday Night Lights. Mad Men. Breaking Bad. These 12 shows, and the many more they made possible, ushered in a new golden age of television, one that made people take the medium more seriously than ever before. Alan Sepinwall became a TV critic right before this creative revolution began, was there to chronicle this incredible moment in pop culture history, and along the way changed the nature of television criticism.
-
-
A Very Interesting Read
- By Jeff on 03-18-18
By: Alan Sepinwall
-
Pictures at a Revolution
- Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood
- By: Mark Harris
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is the epic human drama behind the making of the five movies nominated for Best Picture in 1967 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Doctor Dolittle, and Bonnie and Clyde - and through them, the larger story of the cultural revolution that transformed Hollywood and America forever.
-
-
Would It Be Too Much To Ask?
- By Casey Keller on 12-31-08
By: Mark Harris
-
Jimmy Stewart
- The Truth Behind the Legend
- By: Michael Munn
- Narrated by: Mark Whitten
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this definitive biography of one of Hollywood's most beloved stars, Michael Munn reveals the truth behind the diffident, earnest and kindly persona of Jimmy Stewart. Drawn from the author's formal interviews and informal meetings with the star and his friendship with Stewart's wife, Gloria, is this portrait of a man who came from the Presbyterian traditions of Pennsylvania to become one of the silver screen's enduring legends.
-
-
Don't waste your money
- By Deann on 09-01-21
By: Michael Munn
-
Charlton Heston
- Hollywood's Last Icon
- By: Marc Eliot
- Narrated by: Marc Eliot
- Length: 19 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With unforgettable performances such as Moses in The Ten Commandments, the anguished astronaut George Taylor in 1968's Planet of the Apes, and the eponymous Ben-Hur - for which he won an Academy Award - Charlton Heston cemented his place in the pantheon of 20th-century Hollywood royalty. But his fame as an actor was matched by his political activism. A Democrat in his early years, Heston became a staunch supporter of Richard Nixon and Reagan Republicanism.
-
-
Terrific!
- By lawrence sturchio on 09-04-17
By: Marc Eliot
-
Robert Redford
- The Biography
- By: Michael Feeney Callan
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 17 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Among the most widely admired Hollywood stars of his generation, Redford has appeared onstage and on-screen, in front of and behind the camera, earning Academy, Golden Globe, and a multitude of other awards and nominations for acting, directing, and producing, and for his contributions to the arts.
-
-
disappointed
- By John on 02-29-12
-
Sidney Poitier
- Man, Actor, Icon
- By: Aram Goudsouzian
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 20 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the first full biography of actor Sidney Poitier, Aram Goudsouzian analyzes the life and career of a Hollywood legend, from his childhood in the Bahamas to his 2002 Oscar for lifetime achievement. Poitier is a gifted actor, a great American success story, an intriguing personality, and a political symbol; his life and career illuminate America's racial history.
-
-
The Man, the Star, the Lightning Rod
- By Susie on 01-28-13
By: Aram Goudsouzian
-
Robin Williams
- By: Emily Herbert
- Narrated by: Marston York
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through roles in cherished films such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, Aladdin and Hook, he became the genial face of family comedy. His childlike enthusiasm was infectious, sweeping viewers away. Allied to his lightning-quick improvisation and ability to riff lewdly off any cue thrown at him, Robin was that rare thing - a true comic genius who appealed to adults and children equally. He could also play it straight, and empathetic depth came to him naturally.
-
-
Good... but too many quotes
- By DDub on 11-09-18
By: Emily Herbert
What listeners say about American Legends: The Life of Burt Lancaster
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carianti
- 11-19-15
Trying too hard
Any additional comments?
A concise yet broad mini-biography of a famous man. Interesting and enough to satisfy curiosity. Unfortunately the narrator was trying way too hard to imitate Burt's unique voice and way of speaking. I found this distracting and could not wait to end the listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!